


100 Unicorns

by whichstiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, F/F, F/M, Fairies, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:12:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18464986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel
Summary: For my 100th work on AO3, have a helping of unmitigated fluff.Sam, Dean, and Cas head out to Colorado to help Charlie with a little unicorn trouble.





	100 Unicorns

Castiel leaned against the headboard, two pillows pushed up behind the small of his back and one mashed into his hip. He was bare to the world, his clothing slumped in a pile against the near wall, shed in a desperate, ecstatic frenzy. The urge to shiver with delight at the memory surged in him and he tamped it down. Dean was a light sleeper, after all. 

Dean lay stretched out, half under the covers and entirely wrapped around Castiel. One leg hooked over Castiel’s shin, pinning his ankles to the mattress. Dean’s arm wrapped around Castiel’s hips, fingers burrowed under his thigh in a possessive hold that remained unbroken even in sleep. His nose and cheek were pressed up against Castiel’s thigh and he snored softly as he breathed. 

It all felt too astonishing to be real. One minute they were hissing at each other like angry cats and the next Dean told him that he was in love with him. Castiel had been so flummoxed by it that he had blurted out his own feelings like they were an accusation. _I have loved you for years, Dean Winchester, and the fact that--_

And then there’d been kissing and...well…

Dean’s fingers twitched against Castiel’s leg. His eyes moved under his lids, lashes soft against his cheeks. Dean was dreaming, and Castiel’s entire being filled with unbearable fondness. No, not fondness. Love. _Love_! They were saying that now. Castiel grinned up at the ceiling, rolling the back of his head along a roughshod stack of books on the shelf behind the bed. 

Love.

Honestly, the world would never stop surprising him. 

Light crept in through the cracks around the doorframe. It lit Dean’s room in soft grays and blacks, like a old movie or an artful study of a still life. Castiel sat and he held Dean and he breathed. If he could only stay quiet enough, he might be able to commit this moment to perfect memory, down to the finest speck of dust wheeling through the air. 

Dean’s phone rang, breaking the stillness of the room like a boulder toppled into a lake. “Huhmmmph?!” Dean’s head jerked up and forward, crashing into Castiel’s leg before he managed to roll blindly over towards his desk. His arm flailed along the tabletop and a pen fell to the floor with a crack. Papers rustled at his touch. 

Dean’s phone glowed on the table, buzzing far too merrily for the time of the morning. He grabbed it at last and blinked at the screen, shifting to lay on his back with a soft _whump_. Castiel felt the loss of the weight of Dean’s leg like a void. He clasped his hands in his lap as self-consciousness began to creep into the fringes of his awareness. What was the protocol for the morning after you sleep with your best friend? 

Dean seemed muddied from sleep and for a moment he just held the ringing phone in his hand like he was trying to figure out the fundamental nature of cell phones. Finally, he picked up the call. “Charlie?” Dean croaked, eyes squeezing shut as though he were mourning his own wakefulness. 

Castiel tried very hard not to find it adorable, and failed miserably. He shifted his hand to Dean’s hair, feeling incredibly daring as he began to run light fingertips through it. Dean sighed and a lightness seemed to descend on his features. “Uh huh. Okay, are you sure? Pretty sure that doesn’t exist. You’re probably dealing with a-- Huh. Alright, well, we’ll be there this evening.”

Dean ended the call and tossed the phone in a pool of blankets somewhere in the vicinity of his feet. He sighed long and slow, pushing his head into Castiel’s slow caress. 

Silence swelled between them and now that Dean was awake, the fears Castiel had kept at bay threatened to resurface. What if this was all a mistake? What if Dean regretted it? “What did Charlie say?” Castiel asked.

Dean stretched, legs flexing, back arching, his arms pushing up into the headboard. He sighed and relaxed into a slump. “Got a case for us.” Dean opened his eyes at last and tilted his chin up to look Cas in the eye.

“A case? I thought she’d given up hunting.” 

“She did. But you know how it is.”

“Hard to leave the life behind.” Castiel nodded slowly. “We heading out this morning?”

“Yeah.” Dean yawned hugely, then turned abruptly towards Castiel, flinging his arm back across his hips and pulling him close. “But I built in some buffer time with my ETA.”

Castiel laughed and glanced at the clock. Five a.m. “For more sleep?” 

Dean shook his head, his nose drawing shivery hot lines of sensation along Castiel’s thigh. “Something else in mind.” His hand began to wander back up along the curves of Castiel’s thigh and - oh. That sort of something. 

Castiel’s breath caught in a stutter as desire sparked along his skin. “I’m glad,” he managed to say.

“Mmm, so’m I.” Dean murmured, pressing kisses along his leg, slowly tracing his way upward. 

“I’m glad that you— We— Dean!” The last utterance transformed into a moan and Castiel sank into the pillows, pushing up into Dean’s hot palm. 

“You ‘n’ me are getting our own room,” Dean said. “Now that we’ve got this, I sure as hell ain’t stopping.” He paused and looked up, his face more hesitant than his words betrayed. “You with me?”

Castiel twisted himself down, wriggling lower so that he could work his own leg over and between Dean’s. He pressed him into the mattress, delighting in the little groan that elicited. “I feel the same way,” he promised, feeling himself light up with a gin. Years of suppressed desire filled him like a flood. When Castiel claimed Dean’s lips again, it felt like he could never get enough. He lost himself in the sensation and wild ecstasy of the push and drag of their bodies in the bed as the clock on Dean’s desk shivered slowly towards sunrise. 

#

They headed into the garage with small bags of clothing, a duffel bag of spell ingredients and weapons, and a book clad in flower-etched leather. Castiel had nodded quietly at Dean, vibrating with this new thing between them, then opened the rear door of the Impala to slip inside. 

The look Dean shot him seemed almost shy. He jabbed a finger at his brother who was opening the passenger side door.. “Hey, Sam? Cas called shotgun.”

Sam made a face. “Fine. I call it on the way back.”

“Fine.” Dean’s expression transformed into smug delight, and Castiel rolled his eyes expansively in return. He couldn’t help but smile, though. Just as he couldn’t help letting his hand wander across the gap between their seats until he could graze his fingertip along Dean’s leg. Two could play the nearness game. 

The sun was beginning to set when they finally made it over the bulk of the Rocky Mountains. Spreading mesas and juniper scrubland rose like rocky sunrises around them. Charlie lived near Grand Junction these days. She was ostensibly a caretaker for a vacant summer home but she was also plugged into god-knows-what to make a living. Castiel suspected much of what she did remained moderately illegal. Her Robin Hood tendencies were as firmly entrenched as ever, from all that Dean had passed along. 

It was the flash of white against sunset-drenched red dirt and evergreen that snagged Castiel’s attention first. They were driving up the jagged road towards Cedaredge, halfway from the highway to the ranch Charlie directed them towards. A white blur emerged between the thick evergreens lining the road. “Dean!” Castiel warned.

The creature leaped across the road in three swift bounds, coat colored a white so intense it left spots on Castiel’s retinas. A silvery mane and flowing tail streamed out behind it and on its brow, a golden horn gleamed. 

Dean slammed on the brakes. “What the--?” The Impala fishtailed to a stop in the gravel shoulder. He turned to Castiel. “You see that?”

Castiel didn’t bother to control his own reaction of surprise and he knew his eyes were still wide and astonished when he said, “It appeared to be a unicorn.”

“So maybe they do exist,” Sam remarked with a laugh from the back seat, tone keen with curiosity. He’d been peppering the conversation with unicorn facts during the drive, and Dean had mercilessly teased him for it.

Castiel shook his head. “It seems remarkable that I’ve never--”

“You think it’s fake?” Dean asked. “Maybe it’s--” His musing was interrupted by three more flashes of white as, one by one, unicorns pranced across the road. A small one - young perhaps - cantered after the larger unicorns and then disappeared into the scrubby forest on the other side. 

“We need to get to Charlie,” Sam said.

“Yeah.” Dean started driving again but this time, Castiel noticed, he drove more slowly, eyes constantly on the lookout for more creature appearances. 

When they arrived at Charlie’s, she greeted them with friendly nods, standing back to let them inside the little caretaker cottage at the back of the property. Castiel returned the cordial greeting, and found himself missing the effusive embraces of the Charlie he’d known. “You look well,” he said consideringly. In fact, she seemed to glow with barely suppressed excitement that reminded him achingly of all they had lost. 

Charlie shrugged. “Can’t complain. Thanks for coming, guys.” She shut her door and turned towards them like she was presenting a prize on a game show. “So. Unicorns.”

“Yeah.” Dean dumped the duffel bag of weaponry on the coffee table in the little living room and unzipped it with a flourish. “We saw four of them on the drive over. Four unicorns!”

Charlie laughed. “Yeah, that’s just a sampling. I’m actually kind of amazed that they haven’t been spotted by more people yet. It helps that it’s the off season around here. And I think it’s early enough that they can still be passed off as a hoax. But...guys. There are a ton of them out there.”

Castiel shoved his hands into his pockets and crossed over to peer out the window at the pasture beyond, half expecting to see a herd of unicorns placidly grazing. “How did a ton of unicorns end up in Colorado?” 

“How does anything end up anywhere?” Sam pointed out.

“Amazon?” Dean asked with a poker face and raised brows.

Sam scowled, digging into the duffel to pull out the leather-bound book of fairy lore. He passed it to Charlie. “I read up on them on the drive. Unicorns do exist...in fae lands. So they’d end up here if someone summoned them.”

Castiel narrowed his eyes. “Who would summon a herd of unicorns? And why?”

“Oh, I dunno. How about like every person under the age of ten? Hell, forget kids. I would totally summon a unicorn.” Charlie held up her hands defensively. “I didn’t! But we’re talking about unicorns here and that’s actually pretty damn cool.” She shrugged a little uncomfortably. “That is, assuming they’re not murdery.”

“Any reports of suspicious deaths? Horrible gorings or...” Dean sounded half excited, half wary.

“Nope. Nothing. They just showed up yesterday up in the hills. So far, people are only seeing ‘em cross the road. And I saw about fifteen in the back pasture late last night. I don’t think anyone’s caught ‘em on camera yet. So that buys us a little time.”

“Unicorns,” Dean said with a sigh.

They settled on couches and Charlie’s mismatched chairs, Castiel hovering until Dean reached up and pulled at his wrist. Dean dragged Castiel’s hand from his pocket and urged him silently to sit next to him. They pressed together, thigh to thigh and shoulder to shoulder, too close for propriety - at least between friends. Castiel had been unsure about what boundaries he should observe, but Dean seemed perfectly content to keep him close. 

“According to the lore,” Sam said, “the best way to capture a unicorn is to use one of the fae to do it. Fairies can command unicorns to do their will. A fairy could round up all the unicorns in these mountains and lead them back to the fairy realm.”

Charlie frowned. “A...fairy? Where are we even supposed to find one?”

Sam gestured to the duffel bag and Dean reached forward to pull out spell ingredients and lay them on the table: a bowl, jars of herbs, a talisman. “We summon one.”

“Well that sounds risky. Aren’t the fae notorious for being tricky bastards?” Charlie tapped the book in her hands. “I just started skimming through and half of the foreword in this book is a warning about the fae and fae wildlife.”

Sam shrugged. “We know someone who owes us one.”

“A fairy? Who?” Castiel asked curiously.

Dean cleared his throat and glanced at Charlie with a sudden awkwardness Castiel did not understand. “Gilda. Her name’s Gilda.”

#

The ritual was set up and a book of matches produced from someone’s pocket before Dean halted it with an upraised hand. “Charlie,” he said. “This could get weird.” He shared an unreadable glance with Sam, whose eyes widened as though he were prompting Dean to speak. Dean cleared his throat. “The thing is, Gilda and Charlie - the other Charlie,” he explained to Charlie’s increasingly closed off expression. “They have a history.”

“As in...enemies?” Charlie asked carefully. The room seemed to crackle with tension. Castiel suspected that whatever Dean was hedging at, Gilda was likely not an enemy. 

“Charlie and Gilda got together?” Dean cleared his throat and shook his head. “Uh. A handful of years ago.”

“No, that’s not. They didn’t ‘get together.’ Just...they kissed,” Sam said. “There was a lot of stuff going on and...a killer mage and…”

“So Charlie and this Gilda had a thing.” Charlie shook her head resignedly then gestured at herself. “You think I’ll be a deal breaker?”

“Nah. Nothing like that. It’s just...you should be prepared.” Sam fiddled with a packet of herbs. “That’s all.”

“Okay. Well. We’ll just set some ground rules.” She gestured at the table. “Time’s wasting, right?”

“You’re right.” A match flared in Sam’s hand and then he dropped it into the bowl and sang the lilting incantation over the gleaming silver receptacle. 

Purple light ignited over the bowl and a confused voice echoed in the room, staticy like it was on the other end of a poorly connected phone call. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Dean said, his voice relaxed and jaw tense as he leaned over the bowl. “Gilda?”

“Who are you?” Her visage swam into view over the bowl, smoky curls framing a delicate frowning face. Then her eyes seemed to lock onto a vision in front of her and she smiled openly, delightedly. “Sam! Dean.” There was a pause as she turned over the bowl and then she said, softly. “Charlie.”

Charlie settled back against her chair, face falling flat and Dean swiftly redirected the attention back to himself. “Gilda, we need your help.”

“Of course! After all you did for me? Anything.” Gilda listened attentively while Dean explained the situation and at the end she nodded. “I would be glad to help bring those creatures home,” she said. She flicked a glance towards Charlie again, a crease in her brow. “I will need to gather a few ingredients of my own, and then I will create a portal and be on my way within a day.”

Charlie spoke for the first time. “Not sure we can keep this under wraps for another day.”

“Oh, a day will pass here. For you it will be...a few hours? It will be good to see you again.” 

Gilda looked at Charlie and offered a tentative smile that Charlie seemed incapable of deflecting. The corner of her mouth twitched up in response. “Oh. Ah.” Charlie looked away.

Dean spoke up softly. “Gilda, before you come you should know. The Charlie you met before? She…” Dean seemed to choke on the words.

“She died,” Sam continued gently. “A while ago.”

Gilda looked confused, and understandably so. The fae were from another dimension, but as far as Castiel knew they dabbled no further into alternate universes than any human. 

Dean seemed to compose himself. “The Charlie you just met is from another world. Another universe.” He glanced at Charlie and she nodded once, sharply. 

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry.” Gilda’s voice managed to convey sorrow, dismay, and genuine shock as well, but she still managed a small smile. “It shall be good to meet you, then. Charlie.”

Slowly Charlie’s lips slid into a quiet smile in return and some of the tension folding in her shoulders seemed to ease. She nodded. “See you soon.” Gilda’s face disappeared in a puff of lavender smoke and Dean passed a hand along the back of his neck, scratching at the fine hairs there. “This should be fun,” he said, leaning into Castiel. 

#

As promised, Charlie’s house began to quake two hours later. A shimmering blue portal opened up like an unzipped bag in the space between her television and coffee table. Gilda stepped through with a smile painted across her features. She was tall, with golden curls and wide eyes. She wore a simple moss green dress over slim leggings and finely leather-worked boots carved with climbing morning glories in partial bloom. An aura of gentle interest seemed to exude from her as soon as she walked through the portal. She carried a delicately embroidered pouch in one hand and in the other she held a glowing blue stone. She paused for a moment, silhouetted against the portal, then said a quiet, “Hello. It’s good to--”

The rest of whatever greeting she had planned was choked off, however. A whirl of brown and black tumbled through the portal behind Gilda, slamming into her back and sending her careening forward onto the coffee table as the portal sealed shut behind her. 

For a moment, everything was chaos. Gilda was sprawled across the table, half falling to the floor. Charlie leapt for a sword held in a mount above her television and Dean and Sam pulled guns from their belts and trained them on the coiled figure rolling to the floor. Castiel pulled out his blade and twirled it in his hand, ready to fight the intruder. What had Gilda brought with her? 

When the intruder raised her face, Castiel was almost shocked enough to drop his blade. Almost.

Softly, from across the room, Sam said, “Eileen?”

Eileen Leahy brushed hair from her eyes, her grin as bright as the sun. “Of course it would be you!” she said cheerily.

#

Sam sat forward, elbows balanced on his knees and longing so plain on his face that it almost hurt to look at him. “So you got trapped in the fae realm trying to escape from the Men of Letters,” he said slowly. “All this time you were stuck there?”

“All this time.” Eileen was looking at Sam softly, perhaps sensing what her absence had cost him, and the depth of feeling he grappled with at her sudden reappearance. She, too, appeared to be on the brink of throwing herself at him. 

“We burned your body,” Dean said. His arms were crossed tightly over his midsection. 

“A shifter, probably,” Eileen said. “The Men of Letters were experimenting with them. Trying to make duplicates. Spies. I’m so sorry you thought I was dead. If I’d been able to figure out a way through I would’ve--”

“No, no. I know. It’s okay,” Sam said, his voice thick with a maelstrom of emotion.

Eileen managed a trembling smile. “It’s not,” she said softly, and her fingers flew up to sign something at Sam, who flushed and grinned. He returned a flurry of signs, and she pressed a hand to her heart.

“Well,” Gilda said, clasping her hands in her lap. “This is a wonderful reunion! But we really must discuss the unicorns. This world isn’t good for them.”

“Right,” Charlie said. She’d been eyeing Gilda warily, but something about the fairy’s business-like tones seemed to settle her. “The unicorns.” Charlie laid out the bare facts for Gilda, who listened attentively and nodded when she finished. 

“It may not have been an intentional slip into your world,” Gilda said. “Sometimes when someone wishes very hard, it opens a door for the fae as well as any spell. But unicorns are easy to round up. You said there are several?”

“I’d estimate at least twenty,” Charlie said. “I saw a whole herd of them in the back woods here.” 

Gilda frowned. “That is quite a lot for just me to round up.” She looked around pleasantly. “Unless you all might be willing to help?”

Sam cleared his throat, ears turning red at the tips. “Don’t we, ah, need to be virgins? To approach a unicorn?”

“Oh yes,” Gilda said. “But that’s easily attained.” She plucked the pouch from the coffee table and held it up. It glimmered in the artificial light. “I brought potion ingredients. I think enough to go around, should you wish to help as well.” She nodded at Eileen who hesitated, then shrugged an assent. “That settles it, then. This spell will return you to a virginal status in the eyes of the unicorns. I must caution you, however. Sex or even, ah, kissing? That can be enough to break the spell and return you to your former state. Are any of you virgins already?” she asked politely, only to be greeted by laughter. Castiel, with the scent of Dean still clinging to him, shook his head. 

“So no touching,” Dean said suddenly as Gilda began to draw ingredients from her bag. She nodded. “Ain’t that a bitch,” he muttered quietly to Castiel, who laughed in reply. _It was, indeed, a bitch._

Castiel looked up to see Charlie staring between them, eyes narrowed. When she caught Castiel’s eye, she raised an eyebrow. _You,_ she mouthed, _and him?_

Castiel’s eyes widened and he glanced at Dean, wondering what he should say, or not acknowledge. A grin began to spread across Charlie’s face and Castiel shook his head sharply at her. _Not now._

Except that Sam had seen the exchange. “What’s going on with you two?” he asked, turning away from Eileen at last. He haltingly signed sporadic words from his question and across from him, Eileen seemed to melt with fondness as she watched him sign.

“What?” Dean jolted in his seat. “Nothing. Um…”

“You guys have been weird all day. Is something wrong that I should know about? We said no more secrets, Dean.”

“Dude, it’s not like that,” Dean said hurriedly. “It’s nothing bad.” He cleared his throat. “In fact… In fact, it’s good.”

“Very good,” Castiel interjected, feeling entirely at sea on what the proper thing to say in this situation would be. But he saw merriment kindle in Sam’s eye and he suppressed a smile. 

“Look. Cas and I. We, um. We started-- We ended up--”

“Last night we slept together,” Castiel said, seeing that Dean was flailing. He could feel Dean turn furnace hot beside him and a grin began to play at the corners of his mouth. “I’m sure what Dean is trying to say is that we were looking forward to--”

“Wow,” Dean said, clapping Castiel on the back a little too hard. “Overshare, buddy.” Castiel laughed. 

For a moment, the room was a tangle of amusement, and then Charlie said, “Suck it up, buttercup. You two kids can get a room after we play unicorn dude ranch.”

Beside him, Dean bodily rolled his eyes. “Just-- Whatever.” He fumbled for Castiel’s hand, twining their fingers together and gripping him a little too tightly. “Revirginize us, it’s fine.”

#

“I don’t feel any different,” Castiel complained as they set out that evening armed with flashlights and more of the glowing gems Gilda had provided to them. He traced his finger around the unicorn bait in his pocket. The gem felt warm to his touch, like it was somehow alive. 

“Well, that’s the thing about virginity,” Dean said. “Don’t mean a damn thing except for on paper. And, I guess, puritanical unicorns.”

“If I...talked dirty to you,” Castiel said as they set off along the trail he and Dean had been assigned. “Would that be enough to break the spell? Or is it only physical sexual contact?”

“Talk dirty to me, huh?” Dean’s laugh came out a little strained. “You wanna talk dirty to me?”

“Well, it could be fun.” Castiel grinned slyly at Dean in the early moonlight and Dean laughed. 

“Okay, well. Buddy, if you’re trying to test the boundaries, you’re doing a good job.” They walked in silence for a few minutes, watching for traces of silvery white through the trees. “God, I want to kiss you so bad right now.” Dean sounded so full of longing and dire irritation that Castiel laughed. 

“I’d like to do much more than kissing.”

Dean played with the tail of his flannel, tugging at the fabric. “Same,” he said, a little thickly. Then he cleared his throat. “So. We got a regular messy situation otherwise. Eileen, back from the assumed dead? And Charlie and Gilda…”

“It has been a day for unexpected pairings.”

Dean jabbed a finger at Castiel. “You including us in that comment?”

“No,” Castiel shook his head. “Well, perhaps from the perspective of being surprised by your feelings. But I had always hoped…”

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Me too.”

Silver passed suddenly between the trees and Castiel gasped. “Dean! There.” He pointed diagonally off the trail and Dean grabbed the gem from his pocket. 

“Let’s get our sparkle on.” He held the gem in his palm and Castiel did the same. Together, they chanted the incantation that should call a unicorn to them and hold them in thrall long enough to lead the creatures to the paddock they’d borrowed from a currently empty vacation home. Once all the unicorns were gathered, they would send them all through a portal together.

The unicorn changed direction instantly, cantering towards them as though it were attached to a line and to Castiel’s surprise, two others followed in its wake. They approached Castiel and Dean, huge and muscled and impossibily glorious. The unicorns’ coats glimmered in the half moonlight, seeming to absorb the light from their flashlights and the gems alike. Castiel found something clenching within himself, some sense of primordial awe that froze him to the ground for a moment as the first unicorn approached and leaned its massive head down to lip along Castiel’s outstretched hand. He took a questioning step backward and the unicorn stepped forward. Emboldened, he took a few more steps back, pleased to see the unicorns following him. “It’s working,” he said triumphantly. 

“Awesome,” Dean said, matching Castiel’s pace as they walked back down the little trail, massive unicorns blithely pushing through the overhung branches as though the forest was nothing but an inconsequential dream. 

They led the three unicorns to the paddock, meeting Charlie and Gilda on the way. Charlie smugly crowed at them, “Got four already!”

“This a contest?” Dean shouted back at her and Castiel rolled his eyes. “Bet we can catch more than you.”

“You’re on!” Charlie laughed and she and Gilda disappeared back into the tree line again. 

Once their three unicorns were secure in the paddock, Castiel looked at Dean. “We are competing now?”

Dean grinned widely. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s on.” Dean’s heartbeat quickened as the endearment slipped past his lips, but Castiel rewarded him with a grin fit to burst. 

“You shouldn’t say that,” Castiel told him. “You’re only making it harder.”

Dean quirked an eyebrow, apparently delighted with not one but two new games. “Am I, _babe_? Am I making it _harder_?”

Castiel shuddered. “Do you really think they need us to round up the rest of the unicorns?” he asked, voice rough. “Or could I just press you up against the fence here and--”

Dean clenched his fists and took one struggling step backward. Towards the fence. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his other hand rubbing at his abdomen. “Jesus, Cas.”

“I’d hold you there,” Castiel said, delighting in the game and this sudden ability to utterly debilate Dean with simple words. Run my lips down the soft line of your throat. Bury my knee between your legs. Run my palm along your--”

Dean threw up his hands and whirled away to stalk back towards the forest. “I give up,” he called. “You win.”

“Ha!” Castiel crowed, and followed Dean back into the night.

#

They had reached a tally of 37 unicorns in the paddock (21 to Charlie and Gilda, 16 to Dean and Castiel) when Dean hatched his next idea. 

Thirty minutes later, he let out an exalted whoop from the back of a very surprised unicorn. “I figured that we can get around these mountains a lot faster on the back of a unicorn so…” Dean gestured to one of the other besotted creatures. “You with me?”

“Always,” Castiel promised. He held out a hand to a unicorn with silver speckles gleaming on its chest like stars. “May I ride you?” he asked?

Dean snorted from atop his own majestic beast. “That’s what he said.”

Castiel glowered in mock disapproval and pulled himself onto the unicorn. Astride, the forest seemed smaller somehow. Less substantial. The unicorn shifted beneath him, muscles flowing under his thighs. Castiel had a sudden vision of Dean and himself riding along the ridges of the mountains, hands tangled in the manes of their steeds, pursuing their quarry in an infinite run. “That was a terrible joke,” Castiel said belatedly, then bent down to whisper in his unicorn’s ear. “Help us find the rest of your kin.” 

For a moment, time seemed to stand still as the unicorn listened to his command. The unicorn tensed, potential power banking in its body. And then it sprang forward and the mountains turned into a rushing blur around him. With another cowboy whoop, Dean followed in close pursuit.

Mounted on unicorns, they managed to collect glowing packs of the beasts quickly. The unicorns seemed to be able to sense their brethren, and under the thrall of the fairy spell were quick to comply with Castiel’s requests to round up the rest. By the time the approaching sunrise lit the sky in a rosy blush, the expansive paddock was full almost to bursting with unicorns. 

Dean opened the gate to the paddock and led in their two steeds with a fond touch to their velvety noses. He closed the gate with satisfaction, his mouth soft and dreamy as he looked at the crowd of mystical creatures. Castiel came to lean against the fence with Dean, hovering so close to Dean that he could feel his warmth against his shoulder. 

Dean was dusty from the nighttime roundup. His boots were muddied and red dirt smeared one cheek. He looked as joyful as a young boy as he took in the hundred unicorns before them. “So, we win.” Dean laughed and looked around. “I counted sixty-two.” He fished his phone out of his pocket. “Sam’s ‘do not disturb’ has apparently lasted all night. He said he and Eileen are squirreled away in the house making breakfast for everyone.”

Castiel laughed with a mix of relief and amusement. “It didn’t take them long to reconnect.”

“Yeah. Well. Absence makes the heart grow fonder maybe, I dunno. He took it pretty hard when he thought she’d died.”

“I understand the feeling,” Castiel said meaningfully.

Dean dropped his chin, then nudged Castiel with an elbow. “Same.”

“What about Charlie and Gilda? I haven’t seen them since around three o’clock.”

Dean gestured towards the woods. “Otherwise engaged, I’m thinking.”

“Huh.” Castiel started in surprise as Charlie and Gilda emerged from the woods, clothing askew. Charlie looked more relaxed and happy than she ever had since coming to their world. “That was unexpected. Wasn’t it?”

Dean shrugged. “Can’t fight attraction.”

“I suppose not.” 

Dean’s glanced back at Castiel and his gaze dropped to linger on Castiel’s lips. “How do you suppose we managed to hold out all night?”

“Years of practice.” Castiel shook his head and longed to pull Dean to him. “Too many.”

Dean looked at him like he was the greatest marvel in the world. “Yeah. We really gotta break ourselves of that habit.” His tongue flicked out to wet his mouth. It seemed like an invitation to chase his lips.

“Agreed,” Castiel said, suddenly breathless.

“Leave room for unicorns!” Charlie called out with a snort from several feet away. The unicorns closest to her shuffled nervously and she grimaced and halted in her tracks. 

Gilda paused beside her. “Good work. I can send them home on my own,” she called out to Dean and Castiel. “Perhaps...perhaps you would like to retire for some rest?” She bent down to whisper something in Charlie’s ear and Charlie’s eyes grew wide. 

“Okay!” Charlie fished in her pocket and pulled out a key, holding it up. “Better come and get it. I don’t think those unicorns want me nearby.” 

As Dean crossed the field, Castiel turned to prop his elbows on the fence and watch him talk to Charlie and Gilda. Dean looked lighter as well, as though together they’d tunneled out of a terrible cave and emerged into the first sunshine they’d seen in years. There was something almost unbearably beautiful about his smile this morning. The love that he so often buried beneath gruff remarks and blasted music emanated from him like a restored painting, scraped clean by the magical night.

Dean took the key, waved farewell, then beckoned to Castiel to follow him towards the houses. Castiel joined him, leaving Charlie and Gilda beside the paddock full of unicorns. Dean held up the key. “To the big house,” he said with a grin. “Charlie says not to break anything.”

“To sleep?” Castiel glanced at the rapidly brightening sky. 

Dean snorted. “If that’s what you really wanna do.”

“You know what I want,” Castiel said quietly and Dean paused. He laid a hand on Castiel’s elbow, then slid it carefully behind him until his arm was wrapped around Castiel’s waist. 

“I think I might be starting to get that.”

Castiel grinned and threaded his own arm behind Dean, hooking his thumb on a belt loop. Together, they started walking again. Dew wet their boots as they strolled and in the distance, songbirds took up a complicated tune that sounded faintly unnatural. Romantic. “Charlie wants to say goodbye to Gilda before she heads back to the fairy realm. After she gets all the unicorns through.” Dean said, head cocked to the side as though had caught on to the unusual bird song as well. He sighed. “Hell of a day.”

“That’s an understatement.”

Dean’s hand slid down to cradle Castiel’s hip, his palm weighty with promise. “What’s your plan, then?”

“I don’t know about you,” Castiel said, lips twitching into a smile. “But I have a virgin to deflower.”

Dean laughed and stopped in his tracks, using their momentum to pull Castiel around so that they stood wrapped in each other, bodies close. He dipped his head and his lips burned into Castiel’s in a tight, passionate kiss. When they emerged from the kiss several minutes later, breath short, Dean murmured, “Love you, Cas.”

“And I, you.” Castiel pulled away just far enough to take Dean’s hand, then he led him up to the house. Birds serenaded the lovers on the quiet ranch like something out of a fairy tale and Castiel believed, for the first time ever, in happy endings.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/whichstiel) and [Tumblr](http://whichstiel.tumblr.com/) @ whichstiel. You may also like the Supernatural recap and gif blog I co-write/curate, [Shirtless Sammy](https://shirtlesssammy.tumblr.com/).


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